Hackamore



March 1, 1949. H. o. JONES 2,463,279

HAG KAMORE Filed July 2, 1947 Patented Mar. 1, 1949 UNITED STATES "TENT OFFI CE HACKAMORE Hubert 0. Jones, Sells, Ariz.

Application July 2, 1947, Serial No. 758,499

nose and a chin strap or curb extending beneath the lower jaw of the horse, together with rein controlled lever mechanism for urging the chin strap and nose band toward each other with sufficient pressure to control the horse; this general arrangement being old and well known in the art.

'Prior art devices of this general type have been developed for use primarily in riding .or driving, rather than in leading the horse, and have been relatively inefficient in this latter use due to a torque or twisting force produced .in the hackamore by a forward pull on the. reins,..with a consequent displacement of the nose band and/or other parts of the hackamore and a resulting discomfort and sometimes injury to the horse, particularly where the horse is young or hot blooded and in general difficult to control.

The present invention has been conceived and developed with the foregoing considerations in mind, and accordingly has for its broad general object to provide a leverage hackamorewhich is not only capable of eflicient and efiective useiin riding or driving a horse, but which will operate with equal effectiveness and humanity when the horse is being led.

More specifically an object of the invention is to provide such a hackamore in which the longitudinal forward pull exerted on the reins in leading the horse is transmitted solely as alinear force through the hackamore toand inal-ignment with the headstall straps which hold the hackamore against forward displacement, thus avoiding the application of torque or. consequent '-displacement to the hackamore.

A further object is to provide such a hackamore in which the rearward controllingtension-applied to the reins in riding or driving thehorse is exerted On the headstall pieces-in. alignment with the nose bar or band thereof to "prevent twisting or misplacing of same.

To attain these primary objects, the hackamore of my invention is arranged With-the fulcrumsof the rein leversin longitudinal alignment with their respective headstall; strapsand the points of connection of same to the hacka- "2 more; andsaid fulcrums are also located in alignment with the nose band in a transverse direction.

A further object is to provide such a leverage hackamore whichis adjustable laterally to fit any horse, while retaining the advantages aforementioned.

.Still further objects are: to provide such a device which is simple in construction, may be economically produced and is practical and reliable in operation.

In the preferred embodiment of, the invention shown for purposes of illustration in the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the preferred embodiment-of the invention as itwill appear when applied to a horse;

Figure 2, an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of one of the headstall piecesor elements showing the manner in which it is assembled with the nose band and its respective rein lever, both of the latter parts being shown in' part only; and

Figure 3, a detail fragmentary plan view or edgewise view showing the details of the pivotal connection between one of the headstall pieces and its respective rein lever.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, the hackamore shown therein is supported against transverse displacement relative to the major or longitudinal axis of the horses head by a preferably rigid arcuately curved nose bar I which extends'transversely across and conformingly rests on the horses nose in usual position with its free ends curved downwardly.

upper endv of which is connected to its respective end of thenosebar. l, .preferablyin such manner has .to permit lateraL swingingadjustment.of .the

headstall pieces toward or away from each other in the transverse plane of the nose bar I so that the device may be properly conformingly fitted to horses whose heads are of varying sizes and proportions. A suitable type of such pivotal connection is illustrated in detail in Figure 2, wherein it will be seen that the free end I of the nose band I is flattened in the transverse plane of curvature thereof, and the cooperating end of the stem 2 is bifurcated as at 2' to form a slot which receives said free end I, a suitable pivot pin or rivet 3 being passed through said cooperating portions I and 2' in a longitudinal direction to provide the desired pivotal connection.

Preferably the stems 2 are each provided with a suitable covering or padding such as the leather jacket illustrated. to prevent chafing.

At its lower end, each headstall piece or side piece is arranged in suitable manner to support one of the rein levers for swinging or pivotal movement about a pivot or fulcrum such as defined by the pin 4 whose axis lies in the same transverse plane as the nose band I and stem 2.

Such arrangement in the preferred embodiment is provided by a pair of relatively spaced flat plates 5 and 6 respectively disposed in longitudinal planes and preferably both integrally attached to the lower end of their respective stem 2, the rein lever being pivotally secured between said plates 5 and 6 by the usual rivet 4, serving as the pivot pin or fulcrum for same, and having its axis located as aforementioned.

In the assembled condition of the nose bar and headstall pieces, same are proportioned so that the inner side plates 5 respectively rest against the sides of the horses face adjacent the corners of its mouth. and these side plates 5 respectively serve to shield the horse against injury such as might in their absence result from actuation of the rein levers.

In order to :properly position the device on the horse with the nose bar I and the axes of the lever pivots l respectively lying in a common plane transverse to the major or longitudinal axis of the horses head, a usual headstall including longitudinal headstall straps S has the forward free ends of its said straps S connected to the respective headstall pieces or side pieces at cations rearwardly of and transversely to the pivotal axis of the respective pins or fulcrums l.

Preferably the headstall will be adjustable, as by means of a usual buckle B connecting the adjoining ends of said straps S, to permit proper positioning of the hackamore. While the headstall may have other straps or positioning ele-.v

ments associated therewith, in a manner well known in the art, these are not essential to the instant invention and are therefore omitted from the accompanying drawings.

In order to provide the desired connection between the headstall pieces and the headstall, I prefer to extend or elongate the side plates 5 rearwardly in a longitudinal direction from the pivots 4 and to provide these plates with suitable anchoring or attaching means, such as the transverse slots 8 in the rear portions thereof in longitudinal alignment with the respective pivots or fulcrums 4.

The forward free ends of the straps S are looped through these slots 8, each being secured I headstall pieces by the fulcrums or pins l. Each said lever comprises a normally depending relatively long controlling arm 9, and a relatively angularly disposed rearwardly projecting short curb arm Hi, the pivot pin 4 being passed substantially through the juncture of these arms 9 and Ill.

The depending free ends of the curb arms l0 respectively are provided or formed with suitable strap attaching means such as rings, and same are connected by a curb or flexible chin strap II which extends beneath the lower jaw of the horse, preferably in the chin groove of the horse.

Attached to the depending free ends of the control arms 9 are reins l2, portions of which are shown in Figure l in rearwardly extending positions, as where the horse is being ridden or driven. Preferably the depending ends of the arms are formed with rings to provide convenient attaching means for the reins.

In order to maintain the arms 9 and the headstall pieces against relative spreading movement, said arms are held in the desired position of relative lateral adjustment by a connecting thong l3 which is preferably passed through auxiliary attaching rings formed in the extreme lower ends of said arms 9.

In the operation of the aforesaid hackamore, where the horse is being driven or ridden, the reins will extend rearwardly in a direction substantially parallel to the transverse plane in which the nose bar l and fulcrums 4 are located, and the controlling tension exerted on the reins l2 by the driver will be thus substantially parallel to the plane of the fulcrum 4' and nose band I, thus avoiding any dispacement of the nose band.

The application of a pull or tension on the reins IE will cause the control arms 9 to swing rearwardly, moving the curb arms II] to cause the curb or chin strap l l and the nose band I to exert the desired controlling pressure, this general mode of. operation being old and well known in the art.

Where the horse is being led, the reins will extend forwardly in a substantially longitudinal direction substantially parallel to the plane of the fulcrums t, headstall straps S and the connections between said straps and the headstall pieces, it being understood that when the horse is being led it will normally extend its head and neck forwardly so that the longitudinal axis thereof, and the direction of the controllin tension, will be more nearly horizontal than is indicated in Figure 1.

It will thus be apparent that I have invented a leverage hackamore which may be employed with equal effectiveness either in leading, or in riding or driving the horse controlled thereby, and which will in either use be maintained seated in proper operative position to function effectively and in a humane, non-injurious manner. This is made possible by the location of the rein lever fulcrums l whereby in operation same are located at the intersections of the longitudinal axis of the horses head with the relatively transverse plane of the nose band I.

In this application I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of my invention simply by Way of illustration of the practice thereof, as by law required. However I recognize that my invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and that the various details may be modified, all without departing from my said invention. Accordingly the drawings and description herein are to be considered as merely illustrative, and not as exclusive.

Havin thus described my invention, I claim:

A leverage hackamore for controlling a horse comprising a nose band curved to approximately fit the front of a horses nose and lie in a plane transverse to the axis of the horses head, a headstall piece pivoted to each end of the nose band by a pivot substantially parallel with said axis and attached to a headstall strap substantially parallel with said axis, a rein lever pivoted to each headstall piece on a pivot perpendicular to the plane of an associated strap, each rein lever comprising a controlling arm normally substantially in line with the associated strap and a curb arm directed away from the nose band, the angle between the two arms being not greater than 90, and a chin strap supported solely by connection to the ends of the curb arms.

HU'BERT O. JONES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,186,350 Simon Jan. 9, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 10,698 Great Britain Mar. 11, 1899 12,287 Great Britain Oct. 18, 1906 458,930 Great Britain Dec. 30, 1936 

